Alphabettes go Typographics

Typographics
 
Next week, the whole (type) world will look and travel to New York City for the incredible Typographics festival. I thought TypoBerlin this year would be impossible to top regarding number of Alphabettes in attendance and in town. But given that no less than ~21 ’bettes are living in NYC*, plus us global trotters who are visiting from abroad, next week’s event will probably be the record breaking meeting of our little club to date.

The organizers Cara di Edwardo, Alexander Tochilovsky and Roger Black did a really great job at putting together an interesting diverse line up (the first 50/50 female/male speakers event I know of!). Elizabeth, Nina, Marta, Fiona, Victoria, and I are speaking, Tânia is giving a workshop, Sara can be visited on a studio tour, and at the free Type Lab Isabel is doing a demo, and Amy and Bianca are organizing the Alphabettes Variety Show on Saturday afternoon. Stay tuned for details about that. If you are unable to join us at the lab, you may be in luck …

Check our Twitter and Instagram feeds for live reportage and other nonsense. And if you don’t have a ticket yet and are anywhere close to York Neue, this is your chance to see us in person, so register already. Or for the free Type Lab days. (Oops, I see the two events mentioned above are the only women on the Type Lab program. Girls, get out there!)

 
 
* Here is a map of us all I put together back in March for no reason; not totally up to date but giving a rough overview (pins are not showing actual location! No, Lynne is not actually living on the East River.)

The Value of Curiosity: TYPO Berlin 2016 in Review

Design conferences are everywhere. Our profession as type designers, typographers and graphic designers is moving fast and we are lucky to have these events where we can get together, learn from each other, gawk at some amazing portfolios and get inspired by the greats.
Perhaps a poignant talk with Jonathan Barnbrook in eggshell-treading-interview format, where intersections between politics and design come to light, together with gloriously great, and now absent, hair?
Or a warmly technical talk about the mechanics of reading and optical sizes with Tobias Frere-Jones, announcing Mallory MicroPlus, which addresses the challenges of small text and screen text simultaneously?
What about Nadine Chahine explaining how the way we read affects our daily life?

typo16_1
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Before They Were ’bettes

Cover spread in of “The New Wardens” in The Recorder #3. Illustration by Ellie Cryer. Additional illustrations by Ping Zhu, Ellie Foreman-Peck, Maya Stepien and Kelsey Dake.

Cover spread of “The New Wardens” in The Recorder #3. Illustration by Ellie Cryer. Additional illustrations by Ping Zhu, Ellie Foreman-Peck, Maya Stepien and Kelsey Dake.

Last spring, I was approached by Emma Tucker, the editor of Monotype’s recently revived magazine The Recorder, to write an article about women’s contributions in type for the upcoming issue. I pitched a series of interviews with women who were championing type and typography à la Beatrice Warde, given her deep connections to the original publication. Besides Shelley Gruendler, I had no prior personal contact with Indra Kupferschmid, Mariko Tagaki or Elizabeth Carey-Smith. Selecting only a handful of modern-day Beatrices was challenging; my list of potential interviewees was quite long. Ultimately, I tried to gather a variety of perspectives that included educators, practicing designers, and those active in contemporary discourse. I could have never imagined, only a few months later, they would all become an integral part of this thing called Alphabettes. Before it sells out, check out The Recorder Issue 3, featuring a host of engaging articles and contributors, as well as my interviews with “The New Wardens”. They’re in great company.

Mentorship Program

***June 29, 2019 Update***

For the past three months we have been making progress behind the scenes of our new and improved mentorship programme.

This is taking some time because sorting out our online privacy policy is more complicated than we anticipated. We want to make sure we are respecting your personal information. Our legal team is on it and we will be ready to go soon!

The Alphabettes mentorship program team


***March 19, 2019 Update***

After three years of matching mentees with mentors and collecting learning experiences, we realised that we need a short hiatus in order to grease our wheels. We are now in the midst of improving the application process and we will be back soon, with shiny updates.

For the moment, we will not be accepting new applications. For those of you who applied and have not been contacted yet, your requests are safe with us and once we reintroduce the program you will be our top priority.

We believe in the impact and the potential of this program and we are working hard to maximise it. Thank you for your patience!

The Alphabettes mentorship program team


(March 29, 2016)
As the first of hopefully several outreach activities, Alphabettes is happy to announce that we are starting a mentorship program. The aim is to help people, especially students and professional newcomers, to immerse themselves in the industry.

If you are looking for career, industry or educational guidance by professionals in the fields of type, typography, or the lettering arts, please fill in the form and we will try to match you with mentor who can guide you to achieve your goals.

If you are working in this field and want to volunteer as a mentor, please fill in the form and we will get in touch.

FAQ are listed below. If you have any additional questions, drop us an email: mentorship@alphabettes.org

What will you do with my information?
We will keep the information you provide confidential but may share parts of it with potential mentors to find the right match for you. Please be patient, it may take a bit until you receive a reply.

Can I choose my mentor?
We will try to match potential mentees with a mentor who is best suited to their career goals. If applicants already have a specific mentor in mind, they will have the option to state her name in the form but we can’t guarantee she will be available. If the preferred mentor has to decline the request we will try to find equally suitable alternatives.

How often will we meet?
You and your mentor will work out together how frequently, and when, you will connect. It can be anything from a one-off session to quarterly, monthly, or even more frequent meetings.

Where do we meet?
That’s up to you and your mentor as well. Meetings can happen online or in person. Our volunteers are spread across the globe. Some of us are in type-congested areas such as London, Berlin, New York City or the Bay Area where face-to-face meetings can be arranged more easily.

Who is eligible to apply as a mentee?
Although the program is open to everyone in our field, depending on demand, we may give preference to underrepresented groups.

What does it cost?
The organisation of the mentorship is at no cost, but also at no liability.

What’s the difference between a mentor and a consultant?
The idea is to provide guidance by experienced type and lettering professionals. It is not to be confused with free of charge consultancy. If you require more extensive business consulting or expert knowledge, you are welcome to get in touch with individual professionals: http://www.alphabettes.org/about/ or http://yesequal.us/

Alphabettes News — December 2015 and January 2016

It is back to regular programming after a month of Love Letters, and we are here with news from December 2015 and January 2016. There is a lot to read, so dive right in!

Tamye Riggs is ATypI’s new Executive Director
Tamye, who is a writer, editor, and designer specializing in typography and the related arts, and served both as founding board member, and then executive director of the non-profit Society of Typographic Aficionados (SOTA), is now the Executive Director of the Association Typographique Internationale (ATypI).

Round-table discussion about women in type and Alphabettes at TypoMad in Madrid
Alphabettes Sol Matas, Sandrine Nugue, Julia Kahl, Veronika Burian, and Tânia Raposo participated in a round-table discussion moderated by Nora García at TypoMad in Madrid to talk about women in the world of typeface design and Alphabettes. Read more about the type conferences in December here. (photo below by TypoMad).

TypoMad

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Student Discounts for Fonts

Yes, design students need access to good fonts. Working towards A Future Free Of Type Piracy, but on a student-friendly budget, I asked those among the Alphabettes who run type foundries if they’d be willing to offer their wonderful ware at an especially fair edu-fare. Here are the ones that replied:

Anatole Type
50% discount on single styles, 70% on family packs (OTF only). Email Elena Albertoni with proof of your current student status (photo/scan of student ID) and your full postal address for a receipt (VAT may apply).

Darden Studio
50% discount on the entire library for students, teachers, and schools. Individual students can purchase fonts through the store but have to register by filling out this form: “Applying for an academic discount”. Schools requiring licenses for more than 45 CPUs email Joyce Ketterer directly.

Huerta Tipografica
50% discount for students (several typefaces for free on Font Squirrel). Email a valid student ID to Sol Matas & Co and they will send you instructions.

Kontour
50% academic discount for students with proof of enrollment and student ID. Email your info to Kontour / Sibylle Hagmann.

Letra Type
Get the entire Galea Display family (four styles) for only $50 by emailing Isabel Urbina.

Liebe Fonts
50% off of all typefaces. Email Ulrike Rausch your student ID for a discount code.

Typecuts
90% discount for students (full families only) if you email Andrea Tinnes a valid student ID, short description of the project the typeface is used for, and later a sample/image of the work. For her typefaces licensed through Primetype, contact Ole Schäfer and receive free trial fonts for academic / non-commercial use.

Type Together
25% discount on all typefaces for students and academic staff. Email from your uni-email-account or send a copy of your student ID. Institutions who wish to license fonts for a whole class, 10–20 single styles, or more can contact Veronika Burian & Co for an even larger discount. Typefaces can also be made available for free in certain cases if you provide a description of the project, sign a temporary license agreement, and later send images of the finished work.

Typofonderie
15% discount on all typefaces for students and academic staff, also 10 free trial fonts and some free fonts. Contact them from your uni-email-account or send a copy of your student ID. Temporary license can be arranged under certain conditions, contact Véronique Porchez to explain your project. Institutions who wish to license fonts for a whole class or school (10+ users), please also contact Véronique directly.

 
Thanks Véronique, Veronika, Andrea, Ulrike, Isabel, Sibylle, Sol, Joyce, and Elena for your generous offers!

If you know of other worthwhile student type discounts please comment below or send us a note. I also put together this list a while back to which I’ll add these offers now. And keep us updated on what you did with the fonts. All type designers love seeing their work being used and will be happy if you send them some photos or links.

 

’bettes Live, Recap

This has been one of those cases where you wish you could be in more than one place at once. But Alphabettes are not one, we are many! Thus here’s a little recap of some of the type-related events that took place around the world in the last two weeks, so you don’t miss anything, and for those who didn’t follow along on Twitter. The idea for the #betteslive hashtag came about when we realized how much was happening within just a few days. With correspondents on several continents, it was intended as a way to better document, comment, and track the events from afar.

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’bettes, Live

Get ready for an action-packed weekend of worldwide type events. Can’t make it but wish you could? Our team of ’bettes from around the globe have you covered. Events include:

· 6et conference in Portugal
· TypoMad in Madrid
· iiitype in Paris
· Sara Soskolne at CooperType East
· and Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, Biannual in NYC
· or DiaTipo, followed by What Design Can Do in São Paulo
with more to come.

Follow along and join in on Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag

betteslive





Lettering by Victoria, of course.